Anglers often ask the question, where do the crappie go when they finish their annual spawn? Most of the lake species in Lake Sinclair and Lake Oconee complete their annual spawn during the months of February through early May.

Crappie are one of the first lake species to normally spawn. The spawning cycle for crappie is very much related to the weather and its impact on water temperature. This year’s crappie spawn was spread out over a longer period than I can remember in several years.

Normally the crappie are for the most part finished with their annual spawning by the middle of April. This past week while attempting to catch some largemouth bass, I came upon an area along a bank with a few blow downs in only two foot of water and there was a strong odor of fish.

I initially thought it might be bedding bream but I always keep a small light action spinning reel with a crappie jig attached in the boat to occasionally shoot under a dock so I pulled it out thinking it possibly could be crappie due to the longer than normal cool weather and the still low water temperature. On the first cast I caught a one pound catfish. I said to myself that surely the catfish were not bedding in such a shallow area!

On the second cast I caught a beautiful almost solid black colored ¾ pound male crappie. On subsequent casts, I caught catfish, male crappie and occasionally a bream. They all came from a small tree limb in just two foot of water. I believe the female crappie had already laid their eggs and the males were there to fertilize the eggs. That action I think attracted the catfish and bream looking for an easy meal.

I say all that to indicate that the spawning cycle cannot be determined by the calendar. Water temperature determines when all lake species spawn and at that blow down location, the water temperature was 69 degrees which is certainly within the range of water temperature that crappie could spawn.

I do believe that most of the crappie in both Lake Oconee and Lake Sinclair have now spawned and have entered the post-spawn period. This is the period immediately after the spawn when lake’s crappie will begin a migration or movement that will eventually take them back to areas where they were located just prior to the spawn (pre-spawn) and eventually to their summer hangouts where they will stay until late fall arrives. The post-spawn period can last anywhere from one week to several weeks.

Crappie fishing in Lake Oconee and Lake Sinclair are for the most part completely different after the spawn. In Lake Oconee the fish move primarily to treetops in water from 20-70 feet deep where they will stay all summer until late fall. Between now and about the first of June they will be making that movement to the trees.

Lake Oconee’s crappie are easy to catch once they have moved to the trees only if you can locate the specific trees that the crappie relate to. No matter how deep the water or how tall the tree, the crappie will almost always be located from 10-17 feet deep within the limbs of the tree. I call that Lake Oconee treetop crappie fishing.

Not all treetops in Lake Oconee will produce fish. A friend who regularly targets the crappie during this period has told me some keys to catching the crappie. He says that in a large plot of underwater trees, the crappie may only be found in a few of the trees. He says to look for trees with a big trunk with limbs. The biggest tree in the plot is the most likely location for finding crappie. Also a lone tree away from other trees will often hold crappie.

Once you have located a good tree with crappie present, they will bite minnows and jigs. Just work the baits in the 10-17 foot range and you will likely catch some treetop crappie.

Angling for Lake Sinclair crappie in the post-spawn period is completely different due to the lake containing very few underwater trees. However for those wise anglers who create their own little plot of trees using bamboo or other woody structure, the crappie will react the same way as the crappie do at Lake Oconee in that lake’s flooded natural trees.

In those man-made trees at Lake Sinclair, the fish will also generally be in water 10-17 feet deep no matter how tall a man-made structure you build or how deep the water. One other critical point in both lakes is that the crappie seem to prefer trees where the tree tops come close to water’s surface. If you place your own structures in either lake, keep the top at least 3-4 feet under the water for safety to other boaters.

In Lake Sinclair due to absence of natural underwater trees and the small number of man-made trees, the crappie can also be found in deeper water near the lake’s bottom around brushpiles and stumps along creek/river channels. During the summer months, neither lake stratifies so water temperature does not play much of a role in where the crappie are located.

If you want to keep catching crappie throughout the year, you just need to know where they go after the spawn and spend a little time locating them. Determine that and you can keep right on catching this great table fare until late fall when you can go back to trolling minnows and jigs. Good fishing and see you next week.

 

Bobby Peoples can be reached by e-mail at brpeoples@windstream.net.

 

Lake Oconee Fishing Forecast

Lake Conditions – The lake was only stained and Richland Creek was clear before the latest round of rain. Look for more stain to appear from up the rivers.

Lake Water Temperature – 64-70 degrees.

Largemouth Bass – GOOD – Fish have about finished spawning. Secondary points, main lake points and boat docks are now the focus for anglers as the largemouth move away from their spawning areas. Angler choices include spinnerbaits and small crankbaits (Rat-L-Trap/Shad Rap/Berkley Frenzy Flicker Shad/DT-10/Deep Little N) and use colors to match the water color. Other good choices right now are white Zoom flukes, buzzbaits and topwater lures for the shad spawning around the lake early in the day around seawalls and rip-rap. Floating Trick worms, Shakey heads and Carolina rigged plastics are also catching fish.

Crappie –GOOD –Most of the crappie have spawned but many remain along the banks near woody structure and will strike both jigs and minnows. The fish that have finished spawning have begun moving back to deeper locations around trees and trolling over lake treetops has been good over the last two weeks.

Striped/Hybrid Bass/White – GOOD – A good number of fish are still at the dam but some have moved to humps nearby. Anglers are having success using live bait.

Catfish – GOOD – The catfish are now spawning in the larger coves. Cut baits of shad/bream or live shad/bream are best for larger blues and flatheads.